Wireless communication systems such as LTE systems exhibit limited coverage, particularly for terminals exposed to marginal radio conditions. It is often desired to improve coverage, and typical approaches to coverage improvement include increasing data repetition, decreasing the coding rate, or the like. Currently, there is a focus on providing coverage improvement for machine-to-machine wireless devices, which may have significantly different operating requirements from user devices. For example, machine-to-machine devices such as wireless monitors or meters may only transmit relatively small amounts of data, possibly infrequently, and possibly with high tolerance to latency, system acquisition times, or the like.
The Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) used in LTE systems is one communication channel which may benefit from coverage improvement efforts. However, typical approaches to improving coverage for this channel, such as increasing repetition and adjusting coding, would require significant changes to the LTE standard and such changes would likely not be backward compatible and would increase system overhead given the increase in repetition.
Therefore there is a need for a method and apparatus for achieving coverage improvement in broadcast channels such as the PBCH that is not subject to one or more limitations in the prior art.
This background information is provided for the purpose of making known information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.